Already, working together, we produce a great deal of
wealth. But most of us don’t get to see or benefit much from it. Imagine how
much more needed things could be produced and useful services provided if the
200 million unemployed people in the world were allowed to work.
It is not laziness stopping them. The barrier is profit. The
people who own the world’s factories, machines and tools must make a profit or
they won’t hire. If we owned these resources together, we could use the fruits
of our labour for our own benefit.
We could share out the wealth we create together.
We wouldn’t need markets and the waste that goes with them.
We could directly produce enough for all. We could save all the work and effort
that goes with buying and selling and shuffling money around and instead create
more of what we need.
No more tax collectors, benefit officers or bankers. It
would be more efficient to simply share out our produce freely and according to
need.
Working together, we can free up our time so we can take
control of the communities where we live. We could have democracy at work too.
We would be able to control the real decisions that affect all our lives. There
would be no privileged, rich elite able to buy their way to influence and
power.
We need to organise ourselves to demand common ownership and
democratic control of the productive wealth of the world. It will take all of
us, standing together, debating, discussing and planning in order to make the
change possible. It can be done. We have seen the world over that when an idea
has the support of the majority of the population, nothing can stop it.
To send a signal that you want this, vote for the Socialist
Party candidate, and then come and join us, not to mend the current system but
to build a movement strong enough to end it.
A future that works
The market system works. But not for us. It works for the
handful of people who own the land, factories and firms. Some of them are doing
well and getting richer. For them, the present system works, through our hard
work.
For us, it doesn’t. The real value of wages has shrunk. The
housing market is broken and rents are rising. Unemployment is at staggering
proportions: especially among young people.
The truth is being revealed that the world is run in the
interests of those who own it.
For governments, repaying debts to those who got wealthy
from our work is more important than us receiving education or health care.
For us, the future won’t work so long as we depend on an
economy based on the market, profit and ownership by a few.
In our workplaces we co-operate. We don’t charge our
colleagues for our time: we work together. It’s just that we are not working
together for ourselves. If we controlled the places where we work, we could
work together, without bosses, to make all the things and provide all the
services we need. Then share them freely, without buying and selling.
The future that works is the common and democratic ownership
of the wealth of the world. If the majority of us want to, we can use
democratic struggle to create a world of common wealth. The first step to
building that movement is letting other people know what we want. A vote for
the Socialist Party lets people know where you stand and encourages them to
join in. Not to fix the current system. Nobody can. But to build a movement big
enough to replace it.
The alternative is a wasted vote, for parties that accept
the market system: parties that inevitably support putting profits before needs
and letting the market dictate what is produced and who benefits.
Everyone in the
driving seat
Ever felt voting was a waste of time? Usually, this is true,
because the big parties support the current system. They change a few laws,
shift money around; but in the end profits always come first and those on top
stay on top.
Is this the only way? We can put space probes onto comets,
restore sight to the blind and perform triple heart bypass operations: we have
the brains to sort out a better system, one where we will be producing to
satisfy people’s needs not for profit, where no one has to live in poverty
while an elite are wealthy beyond imagining.
The Socialist Party believes in a society of cooperation, in
helping each other, not exploiting our neighbours. We believe that power should
be shared, not in the hands of a greedy few.
Who controls how much you are paid, where you work, when you
work or even if you work? Who decides how much it costs you to live where you
are? You probably have almost no say in any of these issues which have a big
effect on you. But what can you do about it?
Those who benefit from the present system would have you
believe there is no alternative. It helps them if you believe it – although it
does nothing for you.
You don’t have to believe you are powerless. If you choose
not to support this anymore and vote socialist you will be one of an increasing
number questioning the system. You will be signalling your consent to a world
cooperative society where wealth is produced and owned in common and freely
shared according to need. A truly democratic society where decisions are made
for the common good rather than for the gain of vested business interests.
Where you have as much say as the next person regardless of position in life or
occupation.
Voting socialist means rejecting this market system entirely
and that you want everybody sharing the driving.
Ten Socialists
Jacqueline Shodeke - Brighton Kemptown;
Howard Pilott - Brighton Pavilion;
Robert Cox – Canterbury;
Steve Colborn – Easington;
Andy Thomas - Folkestone and Hythe;
Bill Martin - Islington North;
Kevin Parkin - Oxford East;
Mike Foster - Oxford West and Abingdon
Brian Johnson - Swansea West;
Danny Lambert – Vauxhall.
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